Seth Movsovitz and Kyle Wilson don’t have a crystal ball, but they don’t need one to see emergence of Lawrence’s baby boomer population.

Movsovitz and Wilson are co-owners of Lawrence’s Comfort Keepers, a new company that provides nonmedical assistance  everything from meal preparation to transportation  to senior citizens and the disabled.

The pair said they decided to open their business in Lawrence after realizing the city was no longer just a college town.

“Lawrence is really becoming known as a retirement community,” Movsovitz said. “When we started researching our options, we were amazed at how many retirement type of facilities are in this town.”

The business, at 4102 W. Sixth St., is part of a Lawrence trend. About 10 other Lawrence companies also are tapping into the home health-care market.

But Comfort Keepers is seeking to establish a niche by doing only “homemaker” or “companion care” services. That means unlike other home-care firms, it doesn’t have nurses on staff to provide medical services. It focuses on services like meal preparation, grocery shopping, running errands and light house cleaning.

“It may be something as simple as they can’t reach their top shelf anymore, so we’ll send someone over for a while to help them put away groceries,” Wilson said. “And a lot of what we provide is companionship.”

The company has six caretakers on staff, and hopes to expand to about 40 by the end of the year. The pair declined to disclose how much they invested in the business or how many customers it hopes to serve, but Movsovitz and Wilson said they think there will be plenty of opportunities for growth.

Part of the appeal, they said, is that the service can help delay the need for senior citizens to move to an assisted-living facility.

Jan Jenkins, director of the Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn., said her not-for-profit firm provided companionship and caretaker services for 146 clients in 2001. She expects the number to increase.

“More people are wanting to stay at home as long as possible, and with extended families being farther away these days, it increases the need for this type of care,” Jenkins said.

Ken Meyer is the owner of Hands 2 Help, a Lawrence business that’s been providing caretaker services since 1996. He said demand would increase as the price for nursing homes and assisted-living facilities increases.

“A lot of assisted-living facilities really aren’t an option for many people unless they have quite a bit of means,” Meyer said. “They’re not cheap at all. But if they can use this service and avoid moving to an assisted-living facility, they’ll be saving hundreds of dollars a month.”

Both Jenkins and Meyer said there probably was enough demand in Lawrence for another company to enter the market. Jenkins, however, said she hoped the market wouldn’t become dominated by for-profit companies because they often aren’t in a position to provide low-income people with reduced rates for their services.

Comfort Keepers rates range from $13.45 to $14.95 an hour for services. Jenkins said VNA charges about 75 percent less than that for people who meet low-income guidelines.

Meyer said he didn’t think VNA or other firms would have problems attracting enough clients.

“I think when the baby boomers really start to retire, you’ll see all health-care areas in this country grow faster than they’ll be able to handle,” Meyer said.